Elssler, Thérèse, Freifrau von Barnim (1808-1878)

Elssler, Thérèse, Freifrau von Barnim

DANCER (AUSTRIAN EMPIRE)

BORN 5 Apr 1808, Wien: Gumpendorf - DIED 19 Nov 1878, Merano, Trentino-Alto Adige: Villa Fanny
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Invalidenfriedhof, Scharnhorststrasse 33, Mitte (Feld C, new gravestone (grave not restored))

Therese Elssler was the daughter of Joseph Haydn's personal scribe Johan Florian Elssler. She and her sisters Fanny and Anne all became dancers. Therese's first teacher was Friedrich Horschelt at the Children's Ballet at the Theater an der Wien. After that she studied under Jean Pierre Aumer. From 1817 to 1825 she and Fanny danced at the Theater am Kärtnertor. They received further education from Gaetano Gioja in Naples.

Fanny and Therese were very successful in Berlin in 1830 and their fame took them to many European cities and the the USA. Therese married Prince Adalbert of Prussia morganatically on 20 April 1850 and she received the title of Baroness of Barnim. Their son Aldalbert von Bernim was born in 1841 and died in 1860 during an expedition on the Nile. After her husband's death in 1873 she lived in Bad Homburg. She died in Merano in 1878 and was buried at the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin. Her original grave had disappeared but a new gravestone was placed in recent years.

Related persons
• is brother/sister of Elssler, Fanny
• is cousin of Elssler, Hermine

Images

The grave of Thérèse Elssler at the Invalidenfriedhof, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (14 Aug 2025)